Slavin Gulch and the Abril Mine

The Abril Mine is an abandoned copper and zinc mine in the Dragoon mountains.  The mine is accessible via an old forest road off Middlemarch Road, or via the Slavin Gulch trail #332 to the west, which once was a mule trail to the mine as well.  There are several water pools along the way and vistas west toward Sulphur Valley. Eight hikers from the Huachuca Hiking Club met in Sierra Vista to carpool to the trailhead.  I picked up Bill at his place and drove with him and Zeke directly to the trailhead in my Honda.  We got there seven minutes before the main party arrived.

I last hiked to this mine in 2009 and Kevin came along.  I wanted to see how much the trail has changed in the last nine years.

The morning was hot and humid.  I had my swimsuit under my dryweave clothes in anticipation of dipping into the cool water after the hike.  The intent was to hike to the mine first, have lunch, and then check out the water in the various pools afterward.

The hike took us 3.6 miles uphill, first along the gulch, then over a pass from where we could see the remnants of the old mine.  I was on snake alert the entire time. Once over the pass, the trail became harder to follow, as mature manzanitas now provide dense canopies over the trail.  The old mine chute has now collapsed but the view is still there.  We sat at the lower mine for over 30 minutes.  I fed Zeke, had some water, and finally one of the guys said "Are we going to stay here all day?" That was the cue to start the hike back.

I wanted to show the guys the hidden pool that Ellen showed us in mid June, but the taller grass made it harder to see the faint footpath to the pool. I did eventually find it, but the "water slide" I remember wasn't quite so slick.  I was anxious to get into the water, but I ended up being the only one to do so!  SteveS, Jim, Doug and Barry all went back to their cars to head home.  Only Rod, SteveA, Bill and I remained.  I didn't want to be the only one in the water, so I dipped in long enough to cool off and let Zeke splash around, although he didn't seem comfortable watching me in the water while he whined and pawed at me from the shore.

The cloudless skies we had at the start of the hike were now getting puffier.  There was no fear of rain during the hike, but it did drizzle later on.  Once we all got back to our cars, we departed and went our separate ways.  Zeke sprawled out in the back and looked exhausted, and once home, I didn't feel like walking the other dogs any.